Which Card @ 1920x1080?

raybob95

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XFX GTX 260 Black Edition $200:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330

Gigabyte Radeon HD 4890 $230:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125276



I'm leaning towards the NVIDIA because it is cheaper, comes with more games, has bigger processing power, and I simply like them more.
However, the memory bandwidth is almost equal between them, the 4890 has a bigger memory SIZE, and is overclockable much farther than the GTX 260 because that GTX 260 is already super-clocked.

PLEASE, no ATI fanboy-ism here, be honest.

2 P.S.s, what does XFX mean by Black-Edition? As in an unlocked CPU Multiplier or something? Also, I was originally going with this, but it's been deactivated.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130443
 

jawallace-45

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ATI is the better video card out of the 2, you go with a NVIDIA card you would have to go with the GTX 275, which = to the ATI HD 4890. The 4890 used DDRG5 which is the better memory then the DDRG3 that GTX 260 uses, which the DDR5 has a very big bandwidth build in the memory. They have the overclock for the HD 4890 cards, if you are what to overclock, go with the overclock one.
 

raybob95

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Also don't forget that the bandwidth is really almost the same, as the GXT 260 has a 448-bit bandwidth, and the 4890 has a 256-bit bandwidth.

Please also remember the cost.

And I'm not sure if I want to OC or not, depends on 1) How far I can go 2) How stable it is 3) How much of a difference it actually makes, and 4) The quality of the software that allows me to do the OCing, as I don't think my MOBO BIOS has the capabilities.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

P.S., don't recommend a GTX 275, as that is simply not in my budget @ $260
 

macabre215

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Can someone please explain the flaws in this statement, I refuse from this point forward to acknowledge this idiot. The 4890 is better so if you want to go longer without buying a new video card go with that. If you don't mind upgrading sooner, go with the cheaper card.
 

macabre215

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If you are concerned about the overclocking software don't be, you should use rivatuner for either card instead.
 

Wgfalcon

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just get a 4870 1gb around $180 it trades blows with 260 and wins most games just google
4870 1gb reviews. the gains with 4890 arn't substantial enough to qualify the extra bucks again just google 4890 reviews
 

chef7734

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The 4890 is the better performer of the ones you chose. Like others have said to get a nvidia to match the 4870 you would have to go with a gtx 275:however, the 4890 is able to oc higher. To beat the 4890 you would have to get a gtx 285 which is quite a bit more expensive. If you are just wanting to go with one card I would recommend the 4890 for the budget p/p.
 
The 4890 is on par with the GTX275, and they're both almost on par with the GTX280.

The GTX280 retails for $350+

If you can't get a GTX260 for less than $200, just get the 4890 because it's so much better.
 

efeat

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The 4890 has the higher performance of the two. Both Anandtech and Toms did a solid review of the 4890 in comparison to cards that have been around for a while. Personally, I think the increased performance of the 4890 is worth the extra $30 over the gtx 260 216. However, if you really wanted to play the bundled games with the 260, then get that.

I know this wasn't on your original list, but you might be interested in something like this card for $160. It doesn't come with anything bundled, but if you weren't interested in the extras, then it won't matter. The 4890 is $70 more expensive than this card, which makes it harder to recommend over the nvidia option.

P.S. "Black Edition" is just what XFX calls the card. BE basically just means cards that have been factory overclocked by a large amount. EVGA calls these cards "superclocked". It's all just a marketing thing.
 

raybob95

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P.S., if I had the money, I'd probably get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130478

But as far as I know, I don't. Even the $230 4890 is pushing it. I'm not all too concerned with the GTX 260 Core 216 Games, either. If it came with FSX and GTZIV, I'd buy it in a heart beat. Nor am I concerned at all with a 4 Gig Flash Drive.
Also, that $200 GTX 260 Core 216 outperforms a 4870, and $200 fits in my budget, so the 4870 is out of the question.

I'm thinking that I should just wait for GTX 275 prices to hopefully go down, or aquire MIRs, because with 240 Cores, it would destroy the GTX 260 Core 216 in performance. It also destroys the 4870X2 and 4890 at GTAIV, which I intend to play as my main game.

Flashback: I must be getting either a larger budget or more greedy without noticing it, because my original build included a 9800GT. :D
 

mexpedip

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Well, since no one else asked, what mobo/cpu are you running? Is it nvidia or intel chipset?

simple facts to keep in mind:
1) HD4870 1gb is = to the GTX260 core 216. Look at any comparisons. Tested accross 10 games you will see a total difference of 10 fps.
2) HD4890 is = GTX275 same results between these two as there are between the hd4870/gtx260.
2.5) HD4890/GTX275 out perform the GTX280 in testing. I'll find the test if I have to but you should be able to find it. They are both within 8% of the GTX285.
3) if you have an nvidia chipset then I would get the nvidia card, if you have an intel chipset then I would recommend the ATI. If you have an x58 get whatever you are most comfortable with.
4) WARNING, extremely vague concept follows. Rumor (unsubstantiated by anyone)has it that the prices will drop within the next week or two. Probably not more then 10% but that would drop the GTX275 into your price range.

My personal experience between the two is that if I get an nvidia card I plug it in and go. Every ATI card I have had (I have had 3) has required some additional work and the drivers are almost always buggy. + I was never able to get crossfire to work. Bang for the buck would = ATI, simple system performance and reliability would = nvidia.
 

raybob95

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If the GTX 275 price drops, whether actually dropping, aquiring an MIR, or both, I will probably get that. I am using an Intel P45 chipset. I do not intend on Crossfire or SLI. 2x the cost does not warrant a 30% at best performance increase.

Oh, and in GTAIV (My main game) the GTX 275 was shown to significantly CRUSH the 4890.

Mobo= Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P (Intel P45/ ICH10R)
CPU= Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
 

macabre215

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One benchmark that I recall, showed that the GTX 275 had a much higher minimum frame rate. Wish all benchmarks would do the same because clearly this is more important than maximum fps.
 

raybob95

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Most people around here do not realize that, like being tricked into buying a slow Velociraptor because of the great benches, Benchmarks are not everything, and cannot tell you everything. Until you see how things perform with your EXACT HARDWARE, in the real-world, you really only have a very vague idea of how something will perform.
 

mexpedip

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I hate to break it to most of you but you will not SEE a difference in performance between the 4870/gtx260 and the 4890/gtx275. The only exception being Crysis @ 1900x1200 or higher.

The human eye cannot detect anything over 60 fps and anything over 40 fps will appear to be smooth or completely smooth. With that said, I would still hold out for the gtx275 (I have an x48 chipset) because the benchmarks are very close to the gtx285 and I prefer an easy install usage experience with my gpu.

The other deciding factor to me has been that (this is my opinion based on my experience) ATI releases new drivers to fix bugs. Nvidias driver updates do that and seem to increase performance.
 

raybob95

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Most of you are forgetting that, (even though I've decided on this once the price goes down and/or I get an MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130478) despite the 4890 generally beating that OC'd GTX 260 Core 216, there is a $30 price difference, and the GTX also came with 2 expensive games.

Just felt that I should point that out and that most people on this site find it hard to take price into account.
 

efeat

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This is not quite true.

http://www.100fps.com/how_many_frames_can_humans_see.htm

http://amo.net/NT/02-21-01FPS.html

To pull an excerpt from the first page...

"How many frames per second can the human eye see? This is a tricky question. And much confusion about it is related to the fact that this question is NOT the same as how many frames per second do I have to have to make motions look fluid?"

You are answering the second question, not the first. You're right in that 60 fps is the point where most people can't really tell a difference and that 40 is the point where most people stop feeling that their framerate is too low. But it's not due to a physical limitation of our eyes =)
 
G

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err you can't compare the 4870 vs 4890... you overclock the 4870, you might get a stock 4890 (probably won't anyways), but if you overclock the 4890, then you own the oc'd 4870.